After hundreds of Ratatouille recipes tested by our expert team, we chose the best Ratatouille recipe of 2024! Learn how to make in 5 easy steps! Ratatouille is a traditional dish from the home kitchens of Provence, France. It’s a simple stew of glorious summer vegetables—zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers. This easy ratatouille recipe is a flavorful, hearty and satisfying weeknight dinner.
Ratatouille Ingredients
- 1 Onion, Sliced Thin
- 2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
- 6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 3/4-pound Eggplant, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces (about 3 Cups)
- 1 Small Zucchini, Scrubbed, Quartered Lengthwise, And Cut Into Thin Slices
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
- 3/4 Pound Small Ripe Tomatoes, Chopped Coarse (about 1 1/4 Cups)
- 1/4 Teaspoon Dried Oregano, Crumbled
- 1/4 Teaspoon Dried Thyme, Crumbled
- 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1/4 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Fresh Basil Leaves
-
Using a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté onions in olive oil until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic in 2 tablespoons and reduce heat to low. -
While the onions and garlic are cooking over low heat, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a another frying pan over high heat. As soon as oil starts to smoke, quickly add enough eggplant cubes all at once to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cook the eggplant, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened. Remove eggplant cubes, and add them to pan with the onions.
Working in batches, repeat this process until all of the eggplant cubes have been cooked. -
Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a another frying pan over high heat. As soon as oil starts to smoke, quickly add enough zucchini and the bell pepper in cubes all at once to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cook the zucchini and the bell pepper, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes, or until the zucchini is lightly browned on all sides. Remove the mixture, and add them to pan with the onions and eggplant cubes.
Working in batches, repeat this process until all of the zucchini cubes have been cooked. -
Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, remove seeds, chop coarsely. If using fresh tomatoes, boil water in a saucepan on stove. Remove stems from tomatoes, and crisscross the bottoms with a knife.
Plunge into boiling water for a minute or two, until skin starts to fall away. Rinse in cold water and remove skin. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot with cooked vegetables and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes.
Cook until vegetables are very tender and lightly browned at the edges. When all the vegetables (except the tomatoes) are browned and in the pan with the onions, increase the heat to high and stir, making sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. -
Once vegetables are done cooking, combine them on one baking sheet. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute.
Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well.
How To Make Ratatouille - #1 Step
How To Make Ratatouille - #2 Step
How To Make Ratatouille - #3 Step
How To Make Ratatouille - #4 Step
How To Make Ratatouille - #5 Step
How Long to Cook Ratatouille?
If serving as a warm side dish, let the ratatouille stand for 10 minutes, just enough to "cook" the tomatoes. The ratatouille can be served at room temperature or refrigerated and reheated the next day. Cooking ratatouille in one pot is possible.
The ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving. Ratatouille is even better the next day. If you make it ahead, simply store in a tight-lid container (preferably glass) and refrigerate.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Keep in mind that the zucchini won't stay crisp after being frozen. This is delicious served cold, or reheated in the microwave.
Ratatouille Nutrition Facts
The Best Ratatouille Recipe 2024
This is the best Ratatouille recipe of all time! This easy ratatouille recipe makes a satisfying one-pot dinner for any night of the week. Bringing Ratatouille's ratatouille to your dinner table for meatless Monday! This casserole is perfect to kick-start week with a comforting vegetarian dish without a lots of calories. This recipe shows you how to make a delicious ratatouille. The trick to the best ratatouille is to cook all of the vegetables separately, then combine them at the end. That way every vegetable gets exactly the amount of cooking it needs.
Luxuriously rich, smooth, and flavorful ratatouille recipe. Vegetables are first browned, then roasted, then cooked in a tomato sauce. This ratatouille dish includes onion, garlic, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and fresh herbs.
Ratatouille is a delicious main dish served with pasta for a meatless meal my family loves. More often, I serve it as a special side dish to go with Baked Chicken, Baked Salmon, grilled fish or steak. It makes a gorgeous presentation on the table and I love to serve it to guests as well as to my family. This roasted ratatouille spaghetti recipe is a fresh and light summer dinner featuring more vegetables than pasta!
Ratatouille combines the freshest of summer vegetables into one delish dish. This ratatouille recipe is not fussy. It is not fancy. But it’s so darn tasty and satisfying. It’s the kind of meal that gives me so much joy to make and allows me to feel like I somehow obtained a little culinary wisdom.
Best Ratatouille Recipe
Ratatouille Recipe Tips
This ratatouille recipe is plenty flavorful, hearty, and satisfying enough to stand on its own as the star dish. Some classic ratatouille recipes call for cooking each ingredient separately, so you’ll end up using like four separate pans.
As long as veggies are sliced evenly and potatoes (if using) are par-cooked, ratatouille will come out perfectly. Slicing all the veggies evenly is key to make a good looking ratatouille. This also ensures everything cooks evenly. Give the dish a Moroccan twist by frying the onions with 2 tsp harissa paste and stirring in 400g can chickpeas, drained.
For a more intense Mediterranean flavour, add 1 tbsp capers, a handful of pitted black olives and a few chopped anchovies. Make it your own Spoon into a gratin dish, sprinkle with crumbs from 2 slices bread and a handful grated parmesan.
Drizzle with olive oil and grill until golden. Add a deseeded and finely chopped chilli with the garlic for an extra kick. Ratatouille is best served hot with a perfectly runny sunny-side up egg on top.
Don’t forget to add your favorite crusty bread to sop up all the goodness. Ratatouille improves significantly after the flavors have a chance to mingle in the refrigerator.
Ratatouille Origin
The modern ratatouille – tomatoes as a foundation for sautéed garlic, onions, zucchini, aubergine, bell peppers, marjoram, fennel and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence – does not appear in print until c. 1930. Today, Ratatouille is one of the more known classic French dishes.
The dish hails from Provence, a region in the south of France near the Mediterranean Sea known for its bounty of sun-ripened produce. And it’s the perfect example of a dish that is truly way grander than the sum of its ingredients. Ratatouille is a bright and chunky summer vegetable stew, rich with olive oil and fragrant with garlic and herbs.
Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but can also be served as a main dish (when accompanied by rice or bread). Traditionally, it is advisable to accompany these vegetables with a rosé wine from the vineyards of Provence or a red wine such as Vin de Pays d’Oc or a white wine, like St. Joseph ( AOC). Other countries near the Mediterranean also prepare the same type of recipe.
